


Cross over training

by Womble1



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen, Sinking, Training, skills, submarine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28944447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Womble1/pseuds/Womble1
Summary: Time for a bit of cross over training for the Thunderbirds
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Cross over training

It was that time of year again. Training at the ranch! General fitness and agility was usually fine, sure they each found some aspects more of a challenge, but usually their day job mean that this aspect of training was mostly for trying out new gadgets. But things got more interesting when they got to the crossover training refresher. They all took great pride in being able to claim that any of them could take over on any of the other crafts. However, there is a big difference between being competent to take the controls for a few minutes, and really knowing the ins and outs of the machine. Just one look at Thunderbird 1 and 2 side by side was enough to show that no matter how trained the Pilot, they would be looking at utilising a whole different set of skills jumping between those two. And then there were the quirks, those little things that you only picked up having spent a lot of time, and having got out of a lot of scrapes with that particular ‘bird. 

Thunderbird 1 was first and Virgil honestly considered cracking out the tranquillisers for Scott as he took each of them through their paces. 

Apart from Scott's teeth grinding, it had been fairly successful. Sure Alan had to jump to reach the manual override for the entry hatch. And Virgil had to hold back a small scuffle when Gordon had suggested Alan might want a booster seat. Everyone agreed that Gordon had been pushing his luck when he bobbed One's wings to make it "wave", therefore nobody intervened when Scott clapped him round the back of the head after landing. There was some suggestion that a certain AI may have been involved in John's suspiciously smooth landing, but nothing could be proven. Virgil was predictably called out for flying too slowly, but redeemed himself by showing Scott 2 previously unknown ways to manually reboot the rocket and even going so far as suggesting a few adjustments to the fins that could improve the handling. Successfully silencing Scott's grumbles with a judicious application of an engineering degree. 

When it came to Thunderbird two, there was just as much protectiveness on display from its main pilot. There was, however, the additional risk of being bored to death as Virgil had a tendency to list each and every quirk the plane possessed if anyone showed even a minute level of interest. It was the arial equivalent of trying to fly a small warehouse, so speed and grace were given less priority than just not-hitting-anything! 

Alan turned out to be quite adept with the magnetic graples, although had to be reminded not to make shooting noises as he did it. Gordon was immensely smug, coming out top of the class on the general knowledge question round, having sat through far too many Virgil lectures on long flights. 

Scott stalled it on his first attempt, an unheard of event! He was mortified! Flying was his life, how could he fluff it on the flying bathtub? A stifled giggle from a nearby aquanaut caught Virgil's attention, he caught a glimpse of a hastily cut connection with EOS on Gordons communicator. Virgil had his suspicions that maybe Gordon had fast tracked EOS’s prank education ahead of today's training. With a carefully applied elbow to ribs, Virgil brought John up to speed on the situation. A tired roll of the eyes confirmed that John agreed with his assessment of the likely suspects. Interestingly neither of them felt the need to enlighten Scott, happy enough to let him experience this one embarrassment, so long as it didn't carry on too far. Taking an older brother down a few pegs was a long running tradition that didn't get much of an airing on a daily basis due to dull things like “professionalism”.

When running through some manual POD configuration practice Alan and Gordon managed to create a Franken-POD, combining wings and tracks and part of a snow plough. The thing would likely never get off the ground with the weight involved, but Virgil couldn't fault them on their execution. Scott and John working together nearly resulted in a full blown row, as Scott went hell for leather and moaned at John for “just floating around” and John took great delight in letting Scott know the ways that he had gone wrong in his haste. Virgil knew he shouldn't have made it a competition, that was one teaching aid that really bought out the worst in his siblings. 

Next up was Thunderbird 4 and Gordon took the baton with much enthusiasm declaring that they would start with underwater entry practice. The glint in his eye could have been described as devious, if you were dramatically inclined. 

Thunderbird 4 had been launched into a nearby lake, Gordon sat on her bobbing roof while his brothers shuffled around the lakeside drawing lots for who the first unwilling victim would be. Scott lost and grumbled as he strode into the water. Gordon regularly had them completing bleep tests in the pool to maintain their fitness levels in the water, but that didn't usually involve full uniform. But, hey, if they were going to simulate a rescue scenario then they had to work with what they had. At least Scott had put aside the jet pack, even if it was waterproof it was only going to get in the way. As he got near to the sub he did a graceful little duck dive, coming under its belly, pulling at the entry hatch tucking his arms in and letting the mechanisms deliver him to the cockpit. It would have been faultless, if it hadn't been configured for Gordon, and Scott forgot to duck, his skull meeting support struts as he was deposited into the seat. It left a rather impressive bruise on his forehead that inched its way slowly through the colour spectrum for a few weeks before it finally faded completely. He got limited sympathy from his shorter siblings, but Virgil did dig him out an ice pack before he went off to his own attempt. 

Virgil was feeling fairly confident whilst on dry land, Thunderbird 4 was practically part of Thunderbird 2, therefore this should be easy right? He had helped with enough maintenance on 4 to be happy with the theory. What he hadn't taken into account was trying to swim in his uniform. All the extra padding for the exo suit didn't make it massively water compatible, and maybe he should have taken the shash off, but it attached in so many places that it was such a pain to remove. He didn't really need to duck dive when he got near to the submarine, rather letting himself sink and then battling his way back up through the water and dragging at the hatch. So far so good, even if the motors seemed to protest at the additional weight (obviously just the extra weight from the water his suit had soaked up, not a comment on his physique he told himself). As with Scott, it was the final descent into the cockpit that was his downfall. He had tucked his head down just to be safe, but that didn't stop him getting thoroughly wedged. Firstly from his shoulder mounted torch, and then by his shoulders in general. Oh this was going to provide so much ammunition for his brothers, he really should have taken the harness off. He tried to wriggle free, letting out an undignified squeak as he was wedged tighter.

“Little help guys?” it came out as more of a whimper than he would have liked. A pattering noise from above, akin to a cat scrabbling across a roof, announced Gordons arrival on the scene. He peered through the glass frontage and promptly burst into uncontrollable laughter that threatened to send him overboard. Virgil was wedged, well and truly, his legs were flailing around. Whether from discomfort of embarrassment it was hard to tell. Some of the tools in Virgil's tool belt would have come in handy, if they weren't out of reach. Gordon eventually recovered himself enough to clamber back inside and force the mechanisms enough to free his brother, although not before taking a few photos for posterity's sake. 

Taking note of his brother's failures Alan stepped into the water. No need to duck, his frame being smaller than Gordon, meant no obstructions. Unfortunately he forgot to brace himself as he was swung into the cockpit, and went sliding straight off the seat, ending up in a crumpled mess on the glass floor of Thunderbird 4s nose. A few more snaps for the album, but not a complete disaster. 

After the debacle that was the first 3 attempts, Gordon had high hopes for entertainment as his spacebound brother stepped forward with a determined look in his eyes. This was going to be good.

John was just pleased that he now had a full set of data to work with, ever prepared he had catalogued all of his siblings failings and was about to put it all into play. Underwater John was truely graceful, plenty of NASA pool training to thank for that. He quickly executed the maneuver with poise and control, daring Gordon to find fault with an arch of his eyebrow. Gordon was speechless for a moment, then let out a massive Wooop, leaping up from his crouched perch on top of the sub, loudly declaring it a perfect 10 out of 10. John may have blushed slightly, but it was hard to see through the glass, and he would have denied it anyway.


End file.
